Biblical Basket Sizes
A friend brought to my attention that the baskets in Jesus’ feedings of the five thousand and four thousand in the gospels of Matthew and Mark are referred to by two different Greek words. In the story of the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44; Matthew 14:13-21) the baskets are κόφινος, and for the four thousand (Mark 8:1-10; Matthew 15:32-39) they are σπυρίς. The feeding of the 4000 is not recalled in Luke or John’s gospels, and only κόφινος is used in their tellings of the 5000 (Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14 ).
κόφινος kophinos
κοφίνων Mark 6:43,
κοφίνους Matthew 14:20, Matthew 16:9, Mark 8:19, John 6:13
κόφινοι Luke 9:17
σπυρίς spyris
σπυρίδας Mark 8:8, Matthew 15:37
σπυρίδων Mark 8:20
σπυρίδί Acts 9:25
Most translations do not differentiate the two words1, and instead render them both as basket. However, a few, including the NLT, NKJV, NASB and LSB do make the distinction, and translate the σπυρίς used in the feeding of the four thousand a “large basket”. A σπυρίς may well be larger than a κόφινος, since the same word is used to describe the basket used in Acts 9 to lower the apostle Paul down from the wall to escape Damascus.
Another word is used in Paul’s recollection of this account in 2 Corinthians 11.
σαργάνη sarganē
σαργάνῃ 2 Cor 11:33